New UO Students for the Fall Term

New UO students (students who have never attended or matriculated to the UO) must submit the UO admissions application for the fall term and any required supplemental information by the required fall term departmental deadlines. The option to apply to Architecture as a new UO student is only available on the UO application for the fall term. This means that students who apply to the university during any other term will not have the ability to be considered for admission to the BArch program. The option to apply to the program is NOT available on the winter, spring, or summer term UO application. 

The departmental deadlines for the UO application and supporting documents are similar to those listed with UO Admissions.

Freshmen Departmental Deadlines for the UO application:

• Early Action Deadline: November 1
• Regular Deadline: January 15

Transfer Departmental Deadlines for the Fall Term UO Application:

• Deadline: March 15

Although transfer students can apply to the University of Oregon every term, the Department of Architecture program review will only occur for completed fall term transfer applications received by March 15 (the university’s Transfer Early Notification Deadline). Students seeking advanced placement need to apply and confirm supporting documents with UO Admissions by this date. Visit the Prospective Transfer Student page for more detailed information regarding the admissions and credit evaluation process and timeline. 

Application Process

By selecting a Bachelor of Architecture on the University of Oregon application for the fall term, you will gain access to the portion of the application that includes a place to provide two statements of interest responses and a website link to a portfolio of creative work. Applicants to the BArch program are required to submit the following in addition to their standard UO application: 

1. A portfolio that includes images of creative work with a short description of that creative work. 
2. Written responses to two short answer prompts that describe their interest in design and their creative pursuits.  

Statements of Interest (Required)

You are required to submit responses to the two prompts below describing your interest in selecting this major and describing your creative work. Writing responses are essential to our evaluations of applicants. Writing quality is an important indicator of how you communicate your passions for design and your interest in our program. We encourage applicants to refrain from excessively discussing video games or toy block systems in your submissions unless you use them to describe your creative expression or design process. Responses that come from your personal perspective are often the most meaningful to reviewers. 

1. Q1: Describe what you want us to see as important in each of your submitted creative works or the submissions as a whole. How is this work meaningful to you and why should it be meaningful to someone else? (350 word limit)
2. Q2: Why are you interested in this particular design program? Please expand on relevant experiences and personal motivations that have shaped your desire to apply to the major. (350 word limit)

Portfolio (Required)

Applicants are required to submit images of their own creative work via an internet link to a portfolio. While this may seem daunting, we are seeking applicants who can demonstrate that they have an interest and some history in creativity. Creativity can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, including traditional artistic pursuits like drawing and painting, but also through construction projects, crafts, digital media, music, food art, and many other projects. We call these “creative works.” Some applicants will have a rich history of art classes, summer architecture programs, or other experiences that have probably included portfolio development opportunities and guidance. For others, this will be the first time they are pulling together images of their creative output into a portfolio. The information below is meant to guide applicants in their development of a portfolio. You can also view examples of successful application portfolios generously supplied by current students in our programs. 

We are asking you to submit 6 (six) images of creative works that, together, demonstrate your creativity. The quality of the media is the most important factor in our evaluation, but showing a variety of media is also helpful to show your breadth of creativity. Applicants are allowed/encouraged to submit any existing work or may choose to create new work for this application. Regardless of the work you choose, please limit the submission to six pages. It is also acceptable to show 6 works on fewer pages. Examples of successful portfolios can be found here and here. 

Requirement 1:

Of the 6 works, we encourage you to include only 4 (four) works of the same media type (for example, include 4 drawings and 2 works of another type). Your creative work may be any of the following: 

1. Built works   
2. Ceramics 
3. Collage or Mixed media 
4. Drawings 
5. Design drawings 
6. Media developed with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence tools (limit 1)
7. Painting 
8. Photography
9. Physical models
10. Sculpture 
11. Sketches or doodles  
12. Textiles 
13. Video or animation (limit 1)  
14. Other media that demonstrate a strong creative perspective. This may include digital modeling, sophisticated creative outputs from video games, exceptional pieces created with toy block systems, or other media not listed above.

What to NOT include: 

1. Outputs from video games or toy block systems unless extremely exceptional. 
2. Drafted building reproductions using CAD or other digital drafting tools. Applicants are discouraged from including examples of architectural drafting unless it is an original design that is only documented in drafted drawings. 
3. Excessive photography if photography is not a primary exploration of one's creative output 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported media development: 

Media developed with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence should be appropriately cited including how AI was used and what prompts (if any) were used in the creation of the media. Essentially, describe the tool used and how you used the tool to arrive at the outcome. You should also include a description of the image and why you chose to develop it in the way that you did.

Requirement 2

Applicants must accompany each of the 6 images with a short description including:   

1. Title (if any) 
2. Media (eg ceramics, iphone photography, ball-point pen on paper) 
3. Description or relevant process notes (eg. “these sketches are from my sketchbook when I visited the State Capitol building,” or “this metal sculpture was made by slowly bending thick wire using tools in our school workshop.”) 
4. Attributions of collaboration or tool support (eg. “I co-created this video with my friend Alison who chose the music and the costumes. I wrote the script, selected the scene locations, and shot the video.”)  

Your portfolio must be provided via a single internet link. You may utilize a free online portfolio solution such as wix.com or Google Slides, which provide free portfolio hosting services. Do not provide links to SlideRoom portfolios and please ensure that the link provided can be viewed by others (the permissions may need to be adjusted so that the content is accessible (shared) for others to view it). 

Two (2) Review Processes:

There are two phases of review for applicants who want to pursue a major in Architecture at the University of Oregon:

1. UO Admission completes its review of applicants for acceptance to the University of Oregon (UO)
2. Applicants who have been extended an acceptance offer to the UO by UO Admissions are then forwarded to the Department of Architecture for a second review by the department to be considered for admission to the program as an Architecture major. If you are admitted to the University and have indicated that you want to major in Architecture, your UO application will be forwarded to departmental review automatically

Two (2) Admission Notifications:

There are two admission decision notifications sent to applicants:

1. Applicants will first receive a UO decision notification from UO Admissions specific to admission to the University of Oregon
2. Applicants will later receive a second, SEPARATE, admission decision notification specific to admission to the Department of Architecture
3. Some applicants may receive a wait-listed notification with their application review 

Departmental Admission Notifications:  

Applicants who met the departmental deadlines for submitting the UO application and supporting documents can expect to receive a separate email notification from UO Admissions regarding admission to the architecture major as noted below:  

• Early Action applicants will typically receive a departmental decision by the end of December
• Regular fall applicants will typically receive a departmental decision by the end of April
• Transfer applicants will typically receive a departmental decision by the end of May
• Wait-listed applicants will typically receive a departmental decision by the end of June

To check on the status of departmental notifications, contact UO Admissions at admissions@uoregon.edu.

More information about admissions can be found at UO Admissions.

Questions? Contact UO Admissions

Students who have attended and matriculated to the UO in any term are no longer considered “New UO Students” by UO Admissions and need to refer to the departmental winter term application instructions below for current UO students. 

Current UO Students for the Winter Term (space-available program)

Current UO undergraduate students or recent admits who matriculate to the UO in fall of 2024 can apply for the Bachelor of Architecture program with a prerequisite of having taken or are taking ARCH 201 with passing grades. 

The Department of Architecture offers a professional bachelor‘s degree. While this degree is typically completed in 5 years, applicants should note that their completion timeline may depend upon previous coursework taken. We strongly encourage students to meet with an academic advisor if they are considering applying for the Bachelor’s in Architecture program to go over their potential academic path. Admissions requirements for the Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) program reflect the focused, professional nature of the curriculum. Applicants need to present evidence of their creative ability and commitment to the field, in addition to having strong academic credentials. To apply, applicants must be admitted as current students taking classes at the University of Oregon (UO). 

Application Process

Bachelor of Architecture via SlideRoom

• Application Questions: Please refer to the departmental application for details.
• Resume: Required.
• Transcripts: Please upload a single copy of all of your transcripts to the departmental application.
• Recommendations: Please provide the contact information for at least 1 non-family member who can serve as a reference for your creative ability and potential to succeed in this program.
• Portfolio: Required. For tips, contact archrecruiter@uoregon.edu

Need help with your SlideRoom application? Visit the SlideRoom Applicant Help Center.

For questions about the fall term early action application, please contact the department at archadms@uoregon.edu.